saguaro wrote:I agree with Moya's suggestion about making the comic-book-style scenes clickable. I tried to back up at one point, so I could reread something, and couldn't.
I am torn between embarrassment and flattery right now, because you are one of the developers I look up to! Thank you so much for giving Dolls a go, and for the super useful critique! I hadn't thought of players needing to rollback during cutscenes as I felt that it would mess the scenes up overall... I did have a lot of timed transitions. But I see your point about wanting to re-read the precious lines again, so I'll definitely keep that in mind.
... b-but if players don't have much leeway all the time, then the chat must not have felt very personal at all. XD";; The only thing that I allowed for was synonyms, which, judging from the reviews, must not be very adequate at all.saguaro wrote:The input box was interesting to me because it was used largely for static dialogue, where I had to say something rather specific, and a choice menu was presented when I seemed to have a real story choice (like whether to ditch mdoll... at least I assume I had a choice, I've only played through his route once and I chose to stick with him). The response did feel more personal when I was typing it, but only when I had leeway, rather than instances where I had to type the keyword phrase exactly to progress.
I'm not so sure about that, to be honest. The chat system is a major feature of the Dolls game; it adds an element that I don't wish for players to skip. Interestingly, you can skip the textboxes in the early demo, as I recall, but for some reason my programmer disabled it and I wasn't able to get hold of him towards the end. I think what I'll do for players who dislike typing (sob it'd be like YGO without the card games though) is to include an option in the preferences screen to toggle skip for chat boxes too. Would that be enough...?saguaro wrote:I don't think anyone's mentioned the skipping issue... Obviously you can't skip easily on multiple playthroughs when the input box keeps popping up. It might be worth the trouble of making the input box a preference option for people who just want to play it like a more standard VN. Unlockable chapter selection might be another possible solution.
... haha that was Mdoll being confused about the meaning of love. Dolls cannot have romantic feelings, even if they can grow to understand that it's an emotion that exists in humans. The love they feel for their masters is from their complete loyalty and servitude, so Mdoll is interpreting the book wrong because he equated romantic love with servitude love. I guess I didn't do such a good job at getting that across |D";;saguaro wrote:One thing I wondered about was the sexual component in the doll-puppeteer relationship. Gil and Mel appear to have a completely platonic relationship, but Mdoll seems to skirt the issue (he says something about having strong arms and telling the player how he feels, I can't remember the exact line, but I honestly hadn't considered a romantic aspect until that point). So I wasn't sure if there can be a romantic aspect or if it's an agape love thing.
Thank you so much for the helpful critique! o////o I'm so flattered that you'd try out the game and liked it enough to leave a comment. It means tons!
sayu_k wrote:Ok. Finished the male doll route. I did wanted to cry but I'm too much of a brute at the moment.
I kind of liked the idea of having a doll and raising it to be my partner, but the typing was just bleh! 'Cause I just couldn't write what I wanted... I liked the fights being like those of comic books, it was a nice surprise!I think if you made something like this but with a life simulation like Princess Maker 2 it would be much more fun! that's what I think! XD
Didn't get how the doll ended up growing up in ANOTHER PLACE. Ok, just weird!
oh! beautiful art
... haha er yeah I never explained anything about what happened to Mdoll/Fdoll (same story, which is why this is a kinetic novel) as I thought it wasn't necessary. |D";; I mostly just wanted to test out the input system with this game, so I focused entirely on the dolls and skirted the plot. I hope to be able to talk more about doll mechanics next time, so players can understand the logic behind what happened. ^^";;Pixelen wrote: I loved the mdoll route though, he was so sweet and he grew up so handsome! I wanted to see more of him as an adult though! I nearly cried when the credits came up as I thought it was the end of the story but I'm glad he survived Didn't really understand how he grew up because of the clay thing though or why he was cracking?
Aww, thanks for checking Dolls out! I am planning further installments to the series -- currently, a Dolls+ that explores the plot of Dolls in greater detail, as well as a Dolls 2 that will feature great improvements in gameplay/chat -- but it depends on if I am able to find a writer/programmer or not. ";; Dolls+ will explore the world of state puppeteers in greater detail, and Mel and Gil's backstory. Dolls 2 will focus on rich people and dolls; both games will feature new doll types. ... if they get made... XDririruetoo wrote:I just finished the male dolls route *named him Apollo* and I really enjoyed the game play and story, are you planning on making similar type games in the future (where you write responses)? Or perhaps a sequel of some sort?
Jamesaguilar, RockyIII, Nisey and Blackcrown, thanks for the comments! I still can't believe that there are people still trying the game out weeks later. XD";; So far, Dolls has been downloaded more than 800 times, which I think is a feat considering how I didn't post this on anywhere but LSF and Tumblr. Thank you so much for the support. ;o;
Speaking of tumblr, have a WIP I'm working on:
Again, a huge thank you to everyone who's tried the game and left critique. Everything is going into making better future installments!